Terrified
by youkillmypatience
Summary: A stranger gets a little overly-familiar with Beckett without her knowing.
1. Terrified

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle. Never have, never will. It's probably for the best... xD

A/N: Well, I started this fic and then changed directions COMPLETELY. *shrugs*

The songs used were "Terrified", by Katharine McPhee and Zachary Levi (from Chuck, yeah yeah, I know) and Love The Way You Lie part 2, by Rihanna and Eminem (Eminem's part).

Thanks for the reviews, alerts and favourites. They make me squee :P

And this is a long-ish chapter, and there's probably mistakes. Sorry! READ ON!

**Terrified**

Richard Castle was wandering sleepily through his loft. He ran his hand through his wet hair, making it stand on end. He started to make his way to his kitchen to make breakfast when he heard a knock on his door. He changed course and headed for the door. He opened it and frowned.

"Beckett?" he asked blearily, still half-asleep.

"Castle? Why aren't you ready?" answered Beckett in surprise. "And why aren't you wearing a hirt?" she added as an afterthought.

Castle looked down at his bare chest and sweat pants. "I just got out of the shower. Here, come on in." He ushered her inside. "What are you doing here? I told you, I could just take a cab."

Beckett shrugged. Why pay cab fare?"

Castle grinned. "I'll be right back, I need to get dressed. Make yourself at home." He strolled away.

Beckett sat on the plushy couch and just as she did so, her phone buzzed. She saw when she saw that Josh wanted to have dinner with her that night. So much for having a relaxing night. She composed a quick reply, agreeing to his offer and sent it. Just as she was putting her phone in her pocket, a red-headed teenager made her way down the stairs.

"Detective Beckett?" the girl asked, confused. "What are you doing here?"

"Don't worry, I'm not arresting your dad." Beckett grinned. "I'm just driving him to work until he gets his car fixed. And please, call me Kate."

"Well, knowing my dad, I wouldn't be surprised if he _did_ get arrested again." Alexis shook her head and sat next to Beckett on the couch.

"If who got arrested again?" asked a voice, drifting down the hallway.

"Your'e not a morning person, are you, Castle?" Beckett grinned, when Castle appeared, still not wearing a shirt.

As Castle followed her gaze to his shirt in his hand, Alexis was trying to not smile. Knowing her father, he was doing that on purpose.

As Castle was putting on his shirt, Beckett was pondering his muscular-ness. She had really underestimated him. ..but when was there time for him to work out? He was with her every day - and well into the evenings - at the precinct, or out on cases.

_Hmm..._ Beckett thought. _I'll have to spar with him, see how good he is._

She braced herself for the dirty comment that Castle would make about the last part of her thought... then she realized that she had been thinking that, she hadn't actually said it out loud.

"Okay, let's go. We can get a coffee on the way there." He snapped her out of her reverie.

"Yeah, you're _really _not a morning person. You're shirt's on backwards." Beckett smirked.

Sighing, Castle took off his shirt and put it on the right way. He hugged Alexis, then grabbed his coat. Following Beckett out the door, he called "Bye, sweetie, your lunch is in the fridge." to his daughter.

Beckett grabbed Castle as he started walking in the opposite direction as the elevator. She suppressed a smile and he grinned sheepishly.

They rode the elevator in silence, then headed to her car. As she started it up, Castle started fiddling with the radio dial. Beckett smacked his hand station. He sang along to every song.

Beckett rolled her eyes, but she secretly loved listening to him sing. He had such a great voice, but he got lost in each sing, and she loved seeing the relaxed side of him.

A new song started, one of Beckett's favouritees, and she subconciously started singing along. Castle was surprised, he'd _never_ heard her sing before. He liked her voice.

_You, by the light, is the greatest find_

_In all of wrong, you're the thing that's right._

_Finally made it through the lonely to the other side_

_You said it again, my heart's in motion,every word feels like a shooting star_

_I'm at the edge of my emotions, watching the shadows burning in the dark._

_And I'm in love, and I'm terrified for the first time and the last time in my only life._

Castle jumped into the song, singing the next part with no hesitation.

_This could be good, it's already better than that._

_And nothing's worse than knowing you're holding back_

_I could be all that you're needing if you let me try._

Beckett joined in and they sang the next part together.

_You said it again, my heart's in motion, every word feel like a shooting star._

_I'm at the edge of my emotions, watching the shadows burning in the dark._

_And I'm in love, and I'm terrified, for the first time and the last time in my only life._

Grinning, Beckett parked the car in front of a Starbucks and turned off the car.

"Wow." Castle commented. "You have a great voice!"

"So do you!" she grinned as they entered the coffee shop.

Castle gave their orders to the man behind the counter and they moved off to the side.

Minutes later, with coffee in hand, they left the coffee shop. Someone ran smack into Beckett.

"I'm sorry." the man apologized, holding onto Beckett's arm.

"That's fine." she smile tightly. "Can you let go of my arm please?"

"Oh." he quickly let go of her. "Well, bye. I'll see you around." He went into the Starbucks.

"That guy was a creep." commented Castle as they climbed into Beckett's squad car.

"Mm." Beckett agreed.

She started pull away, but when she looked back in the rear-view mirror, she saw the man's eyes following her. She shook it off, and instead, she listened to Castle rapping to Eminem.

_I'll follow you like a lost puppy_

_Baby, without you, I'm nothing, I'm so lost, hug me_

_Then tell me how ugly I am, but that you'll always love me._

_Then after that, shove me, in the aftermath of the_

_Destructive path that we're on, two psychopaths but we_

_Know that no matter how many knives we put in each other's backs_

_That we'll have each other's backs, 'cause we're that lucky._

Beckett rolled her eyes. Well, that was Castle for you: starts off singing a sappy love sing, then shifts instantaneously to a rap.

As Beckett half -listened to Castle, she couldn't shake off how creepy that man at the Starbucks was. Shaking her head slightly, she told herself to ignore it, and if something were to happen, Castle would protect her. He was her partner, her plucky sidekick though and through.


	2. Questions

**A/N: Thank you for ALL the reviews, alerts and favourites. Alerts make me happy. When I'm happy, I write. When I write, the story gets updated. When the story gets updated, you're happy. That means you need to review xD**

**Mistakes are mine, Castle isn't. I don't think there are too many mistakes, if there are, SORRY, don't kill me.**

"Do you like cats?" asked Castle, cocking his head to the side.

"What?" Beckett frowned, looking up from her paperwork.

"Maybe you're a dog person." he mused.

Beckett smirked, amused. Days in which there were no cases meant paperwork for Beckett. And paperwork for Beckett meant boredom for Castle. Boredom for Castle meant Beckett being bombarded with questions and thoughts from deep within Castle's brain.

Castle raised his eyebrow. "Do you like horses? Did you ride when you were a kid?" His brow furrowed in thought, and Beckett knew that he was deep in thought, and would be talking more to himself than her.

"Castle, you need a hobby."

"I have a hobby." He raised his other eyebrow. "Annoying you."

She rolled her eyes. "In that case, can you get me a coffee? If we're going to be here all day, I'll need my strength to not shoot you."

Castle grinned, and stood. "One coffee, coming right up!"

He strolled to the break room, and Beckett couldn't help the smile that spread across her face, displaying her dimples. Castle was annoying, but he was the kind of guy who listened to you when you needed someone to talk to, who called you at three in the morning if you couldn't sleep. He was the boy you played with in kindergarten, the boy you hung out with in secret when you were eleven, because you weren't supposed to like boys yet. He was the boy you went out with in high school, who made you soup when you were sick, held hands with you and sat in the park for hours, watching ducks swim by because you needed time to think. He would do anything to make you smile, and loved to make you laugh. Beckett only put up with him because she knew there was much more to him than the joking, playboy writer with the naughty smile.

Castle returned moments later with a cup of steaming coffee, and Beckett gratefully took a sip.

"Thanks Castle, it's just what I needed."

He smiled and launched right back into his questions.

"What's your favourite TV show? What music do you like? Want me to buy you a pony?"

"Castle, you don't have to stay if you're bored." Beckett looked into his eyes.

His eyes. Beckett liked so many things about Castle, but one of her favourite things was his eyes. They were so blue and deep, so full of thought. It was like they went on forever, no beginning and no end.

"I'm not bored." His eyes twinkled.

"Then why are you asking a million questions a minute?"

He shrugged. "Because you're so interesting to talk to?

Beckett rolled her eyes.

"Have you eaten today?"

"Uh..." she paused. "Earlier."

"How much earlier?" asked Castle, standing up.

"Few hours, maybe? Why?" She looked into his eyes again, enjoying the butterflies she felt.

"I'll pick up some lunch, I'll be back later. Requests?" Castle asked, shrugging into his coat.

"Surprise me." she replied absent-mindedly, staring at her paper. Geez, she was getting hardly any work done today.

Okay." he called back, making his way out of the precinct.

Beckett started scribbling away, needing to make up the time she missed when she was thinking about Castle's baby blues and... there she went again! No _wonder_ she couldn't get any work done. She took a sip of coffee and bent back over the papers.

Half an hour later, a sub was placed in front of looked up.

"Subway good?" he grinned, already knowing the answer.

Beckett grinned, and bit into her sandwich. Castle's phone rang, and he stood up, excusing himself.

Beckett grinned, ecstatic that Castle knew what food she liked. It was the little things that she loved about him. She looked over, and the grin slid off her face as quickly as it came. Castle was pale, shaking. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

He came back and stood, staring at her, not knowing what to tell her.

"Castle?" She stood, and took his hand. "What's wrong?"

"It's Alexis." he whispered. "She was found in an alley, barely breathing."

Beckett didn't know what to say, she just leaned over and wrapped her arms tightly around him.

Just then, Ryan and Esposito walked into the precinct, and saw Beckett comforting Castle. He was shaking, sweating. The boys walked over to him, and stood there awkwardly. Beckett let go of Castle, who sat in his chair and put his head in his hands.

Beckett turned to her boys. "It's Alexis."

**A/N: I hate these kinds of cliff-hangers, they're annoying, I know. Please don't throw things at me. *cowers***


	3. Room 698

_This is a rather short-ish chapter, the next one will DEFINITELY be longer! And sorry for the late update... a month is REALLY too long. My hectic life and homework, and culminating (a school thing) got in the way. I'll try and be better, I promise ;)_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Castle. If I did, Castle and Beckett would be in Honolulu right now, on their honeymoon. And they'd be making little Castle babies. And ... okay, I won't get carried away. Castle, Beckett, Alexis, Ryan and Esposito (and everything else about the show is, as always, owned by Mr. Marlowe. ;D_

Room 698

"I need to see Alexis Castle, what room is she in?" huffed Castle to receptionist in the lobby of the hospital.

Sir, please, lower your voice. This is a hospital" she scolded. "May I ask our relationship to Alexis?" She consulted her computer.

"I'm her father!" He lowered his voice a bit, but Beckett could still see the panic in his eyes.

"Do you have I.D.?" the receptionist asked. "It's protocol, I'm sorry. She's a minor, I can't have random people bursting into her room." she explained hastily when she saw the frustration in Castle's eyes.

Beckett flashed her badge at the receptionist, and Ryan and Esposito followed suit.

"I'm Detective Kate Beckett, and these are Detectives Ryan and Esposito, from the NYPD. I'm sorry, but we need to see her. Yes, this is her father, Richard Castle. Can we see her please?"

"Richard Castle, the author? I'm sorry, Mr. Castle, go right ahead. Shes in room 698." the receptionist apologized hurriedly.

Castle hurried off to the elevator, calling a quick "Thank you!" over his shoulder. After waiting about two seconds for the elevator,he headed for the stairs instead, taking them two at a time. The detectives followed closely behind him.

When they reached the sixth floor, Castle veered to the right and took off. He slid into an open door, almost running smack into the doctor.

"Alexis." Castle croaked, before dropping to his knees beside her bed.

Her eyes were closed and puffy, her chest rose and fell in jagged patterns. She had a deep cut on her forehead, and her cheeks were bruised. Her arm was in a cast and she was hooked up to an IV and a breathing tube was inserted in her nose.

When Beckett saw the redhead teenager's swollen face, she almost gasped. Alexis was always so lively. It was so weird and wrong to see her looking broken and frail. Alexis had such a big personality that Beckett had never really realized how small the girl really was.

"Mr. Castle?" the doctor asked. "I'm Doctor Stevens."

Castle stood and shook the doctor's hand.

"I know you want to hear that we'll fix her up and she'll be back on her feet in no time. I _want_ to be able to say that. I can't, though." Dr. Stevens sighed. "We can't figure out for the life of us what's wrong with her. She obviously has a few bumps and scrapes, and some broken bones, but we don't know why she was unconscious. She was found by a passer-by, hardly breathing. We're running tests to see what might have caused that."

"Thank you." Castle bit his lip and looked back at his little girl.

"The man that found her said that moments before he saw her, an average looking guy wearing a black t-shirt ran out of the alley she was in. We're not sure if he did anything to her, but it's definitely a possibility." the doctor said, taking a tep back. "I'll leave you to it." He left the room with a small smile.

Castle sat down and put his head in his hands.

Ryan and Esposito tentatively poked their heads in the room. Beckett indicated with her hand that they could come in. They tiptoed in and Ryan gasped when he saw the redhead in the bed. Castle let out a sigh and lifted his head.

"I should go call Meredith." he whispered, his voice breaking.

The writer stood and headed for the door. Beckett looked over at Alexis.

"Come on, Alexis, wake up. Your dad needs you. Come on, Sunshine." the detective said gently.

Castle heard Beckett as he was leaving the room, and paused in the doorway. Seeing Beckett care about Alexis made his heart all warm and fuzzy, and for a brief second, he forgot that his daughter was in the hospital. He blinked back tears and continued out of the room.


End file.
